Higher Numbers Getting High

Marijuana use amongst adults in the United States is increasing. A study of over half-a-million people carried out between 2002 – 2014 and subsequently published in The Lancet suggests that this is because fewer perceive the drug to be harmful. From the results gathered, the authors of the study estimate that the number of first-time adult users in the United States has increased from around 800,000 in 2002 to 1.4 million in 2014, while the number of daily or near daily users has increased from 3.9 million to 8.4 million during the same period. In effect, the total number of marijuana users, they argue, has increased by about 50% since the beginning of the 21st century. As a result, the study advises that improvements should be made to educational messages on the risks of smoking marijuana. This is particularly the case, the authors suggest, given the fact that the drug’s potency has increased over the past decade. 

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